A new online game has been created by HHMI researchers at the University of Washington where players are pitted against one another to match wits and spatial skills. The object of the game is protein folding. While this sounds kind of, well, odd – this game could help scientists better understand the human body and develop cures for a variety of diseases. You might even create a novel protein that treats or cures a disease! Read more about it at this HHMI article or go straight to the game’s website at www.fold.it

Check out this 5 part series from the LA Times on the dangers of pollution in our oceans.  Make sure you view the ‘Fade to Green’ video in Part 3 to see the “Poop Chute”.  There are wonderful animations, videos, and pictures to show how pollution is creating ‘dead zones’ and areas where our ocean trash is accumulating.  We need to change our ways soon if we want to save this planet for future generations.

Go to http://www.docfleetwood.net/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=DNA+Fingerprinting and follow the instructions to learn about DNA fingerprinting.

Researchers have improved the vision in four people with a certain type of hereditary blindness by injecting them with a virus to change their DNA.  Read more about the story at this NewScientist page or listen to an NPR podcast with one of the researchers.

Scientists have published findings in the Journal of Medical Genetics that suggest they have found genes on chromosome 4 that may be related to your musical abilities.  These abilities may also be related to language.  Read more at this World Science article.

Researchers say that your brain makes decisions up to 10 seconds before you consciously know it.  This may be another indicator of the predictive power of a hierarchical temporal memory system.  Perhaps it even explains deja vu?  Read more at this WebMD article here.

Do you remember playing ‘Concentration’ as a kid? Or maybe some Old Maid? Perhaps you should break out those games now to boost your intelligence…

Researchers have found that exercising your ‘working memory’ can boost your fluid intelligence. Read more here: WebMD Boost Intelligence